The council has embarked on a $260,000 pavement rehabilitation program on a 300- metre section between Ross and Dalley Streets. The work started on Monday and runs through until February 6.

Operations director Matt O’Rourke said several sections of pavement had failed and workers were laying a new road base. It involved removing 20 to 30cm of the surface.

A resident contacted the Post on Monday concerned that people living on this stretch were told that once they left their homes by car in the morning, they wouldn’t be able to re-enter.

Many parked their vehicles at the former squash court on the corner of Ross St and Taralga Rd and walked back to their houses.

However, in a letter to householders, Council advised that on-site traffic control would assist if people needed to return to their homes.

Yesterday, half the road reopened before work re-commenced to allow residents’ access and facilitate truck transport to the Taralga Wind Farm.

“When profiling a road the crew takes 200mm to 300mm out, leaving a hole, which makes access impractical,” Mr O’Rourke said.

“Residents were impacted for a short time but we notified them in December and generally asked them to make alternative arrangements.”

He said Council only had a short window of opportunity to do the work, given the wind farm deliveries. In addition, it had to be completed in the drier months.

Some residents have questioned the wisdom of completing the upgrade when wind farm trucks were still travelling the thoroughfare.

But Mr O’Rourke said it was necessary given that pavement sections had completely failed and work on Taralga Rd hadn’t been done “for a while.”

The wind farm is paying Council road maintenance funds via section 94 levies.